It is common practice to merchandise many products by means of coin-operated vending machines. Such machines are to vend candy, cigarettes, beverages, newspapers, insurance policies and substantially any and all other items which are of a size and nature that they can be advantageously handled and dispensed by those various product handling devices which have been developed and are used in vending machines and the cost of which does not exceed the coinage receiving capacity of the vending machines.
All coin-operated vending machines include coin mechanisms, that is, mechanisms adapted to received required coinage for operation of the machines and which, as a general rule, operate to normally lock the machines against operation and which operate to release and effect operation of the machines when required coinage is deposted therein.
The most common type of coin mechanisms for vending machines are characterized by elongate, horizontal, axially shiftable coin-receiving transport bars carried by coin mechanism frames mounted in openings in the front walls of their related vending machines. The transport bars have front end portions with one or more coin-receiving apertures therein. The noted bars usually project freely forwardly from their related frames and machines and have thumg-engaging portions at their forward ends to facilitate manual shifting thereof. The other or rear ends of the bars occur within their related machines and engage product handling and dispensing devices within the machines and which are such that upon rearward axial shifting of the bars, the product dispensing devices are actuated. The coin-receiving apertures in the bars are normally accessible at the front of their related vending machines and the noted frames of the mechanisms carry various coin handling means and latching means which operate to permit rearward movement of the bars from their normal front position to their rear actuated positions, when required coinage is engaged with and carried by the bars.
While the above noted type of coin mechanisms are rather simple in nature, the operating mechanisms thereof are characteristically rather complicated and the overall cost of manufacturing and maintaining those mechanisms is quite high.
Still further, while many of the prior art coin mechanisms in current use are such that they can handle a number of several different sizes of coins, for example, one or more nickels, dimes or quarters, and are such that they can be adjusted or modified to handle different combinations of such coins, the range of combinations of coins they can be made to handle is rather limited and in most cases, is such that the aggregate value of coins they can be made to handle is less than the sale price of many items that might be sold in the vending machines with which they are related.
As a result of economic inflation, the cost of an everincreasing number of items regularly sold in vending machines is exceeding the coinage-receiving capacity of the coin mechanisms with which the machines are equipped. Accordingly, the operators of those vending machines are confronted with the problems and cost of replacing the existing coin mechanisms of their machines with new coin mechanisms which will receive and handle more coinage. Further, the manufacturers of new vending machines (in anticipation of continuing economic inflation) are equipping their machines with coin mechanisms designed to receive greater amounts of coinage than were used in past years. The coin mechanisms for handling larger amounts of coinage are, as a general rule, no more than larger, more complicated, and more costly embodiments of the smaller or lower capacity coin mechanisms of the past. Accordingly, the cost of replacing old low capacity coin mechanisms on existing vending machines with new large capacity coin mechanisms is very costly and the cost of new vending machines equipped with large capacity coin mechanisms has been noticeably increased by the inclusion of said large capacity coin mechanisms.
As a result of the foregoing, there is a present and rapidly increasing need for new inexpensive large capacity coin mechanisms whereby operators of existing vending machines can replace the existing below capacity coin mechanisms in their machines with large capacity coin mechanisms at a reasonable cost. There is also a basic need and want in the vending machine art for new coin mechanisms which are less costly than are those coin mechanisms provided by the prior art, regardless of their coin capacity and for new mechanisms which are not necessarily more costly, as their coin handling capacity increases.